


We're Both Showing Hearts

by Denois



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Chowder Mention, Fake Dating, Fear of Flying, M/M, OMC mention, dex mention, future fic kinda, making tamales, mild homophobia, mostly she just needs to learn, nursey mention, post 4.9, she gets there, switching POVs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 14:17:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17387900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denois/pseuds/Denois
Summary: When Connor came out to his mom, she thought it was a phase. He insisted that this relationship was going to last and he'd bring his boyfriend to Christmas the next year to prove it. Except, that relationship ends in October. Luckily, Tony offers to pretend to be his boyfriend and spend Christmas in Arizona.





	We're Both Showing Hearts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DarthLivion (DistantShenanigans)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DistantShenanigans/gifts).



> Prompt:  
> Tango meeting Whiskey’s family for Christmas
> 
> I hope this suits you. With all the 4.9 feels that have been going around, I wanted to nod to that while also letting Whiskey have some good fulfilling relationships with both the Lax Bro and Tango. And Fake Dating is fun.

Christmas 2016

Connor had made it through the big family dinner. He’d made it through Midnight Mass. He’d made it all the way up to the point when his mom was dropping him off at the airport. 

“And _mijo_ , try to find a nice girl.” She gave him a hug and then fussed over brushing at his jacket. “I know that you want to focus on hockey. But you get big and famous in hockey and all the girls you meet, how you know they like you and not just the money? The fame? Please, for Mamá, find a nice Catholic girl now.”

He opened his mouth to make the hedging and agreeing sounds like usual but suddenly he just couldn’t. Not with Matt in the picture. With the way Bitty and the team found out. With the current situation. He just, couldn’t keep lying to his mom. 

“Actually, Mamá, I am seeing someone. He’s very nice. You’d like him.” He tensed, waiting for her reaction.

“ _Mijo_. What are you saying?”

“I’m gay, Mamá.”

“No. You dated Isabella. You are just confused. Or trying to be like that Jack boy. I saw on the televisions. Stop this.” His mom wasn’t looking up at him and her hands had stilled, gripping his jacket in tight fingers.

“Jack doesn’t have anything to do with this. Except for showing me that maybe I don’t have to completely deny myself in order to follow my dreams. Or that it’s not worth it. I love him, Mamá. I was hoping-” He stopped and sighed. “I was hoping that maybe he could come next year for Christmas. Meet you and Papá.”

She pulled him down and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Mamá knows best. You will see. You have your fun now, up at your northern school, but these things, they do not last. Next year, you will not even be thinking of him. You will find a nice girl like Isabella and bring her home to meet your Mamá.” She smiled at him and then prodded him through security, ignoring his attempts to explain that he had no plans to go that far back into the closet where he was dating a woman again. 

 

December 5, 2017

Tony was upset. Tony was upset because Connor was upset. Now that they were upperclassmen, the rest of the team didn’t get to question the fact that Tony’s moods followed Connor’s. Except the seniors. Were they still the Frogs? He didn’t know. 

They each approached him in their own way. Chowder gave him a long hug. Nursey offered to talk it out. Dex had just given him a long look and then asked if he wanted to learn about carpentry. They’d made a really neat stool. Tony had felt marginally better while focusing on the work.

Tony wanted to show the stool to Connor. Maybe it would help get his mind off of whatever was upsetting him too. But when Tony got to the attic, Connor was laying on his bed and staring at the ceiling. 

Tony set the stool down and sat on his own bed, looking at his friend for a long moment. Maybe it was best to just ask. He’d been curbing his questions, but, well, Connor had never seemed to really mind anyway. If he didn’t want to answer, he’d just say so. 

“Hey, Connor?” Tony twisted his hands together in his lap to distract himself while he spoke.

Connor finally moved, but he didn’t look over, just grunted an acknowledgment.

“What’s wrong? It’s just, you’ve been sad, or out of sorts, or upset or something.” Tony shut his mouth. He wanted to babble on and ramble because he was nervous and worried, but Connor is quiet. Connor wouldn’t interrupt him to reply. So if he wanted Connor to reply, he had to stop talking.

“Matt and I broke up.”

Tony waited for Connor to continue, suppressing the urge to question. It wasn’t news that he and Matt had broken up. That had happened in October, before the season got started really. Connor had said it was a mutual thing and friendly. He’d told them not to retaliate. Tony, Chowder, and Dex may or may not have adhered to that, strictly speaking.

“I came out to my mom last Christmas. Just before we came back. She told me it was a phase. That gay relationships don’t last. I told her I was going to bring my boyfriend to Christmas this year.”

Tony tilted his head.

Connor heaved a sigh. “I’m not sorry that we broke up. It was time for the relationship to end. But…” He trailed off. “Maybe she was right.”

Tony stood up, accidentally knocking the stool over when he did so. “No. She wasn’t right. Plenty of relationships between men last years, decades even. Just because that one didn’t doesn’t mean anything.” 

Connor was looking at him now, eyes wide. “Does it really matter though? That’s not how she’ll see it.”

Tony furrowed his brow in thought, dropping back to sit on the edge of his bed. “You told her you were bringing Matt for Christmas?”

“Yeah. I mean. I said I wanted to bring my boyfriend. I don’t think I used his name.”

“That’s good then. Why not me?” Tony smiled. It made perfect sense. He’d known Connor for years. He could pretend to be his boyfriend, no problem.

Connor sat up and stared at him. “You’re not serious.”

“Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Don’t you already have plans?”

“My mom will understand. She likes you. And she’s cool with the gays.” Tony shrugged.

“You’re serious? You’d do that?” Connor still didn’t seem to believe him.

Tony nodded. “Who better to be your boyfriend than me? I’ve known you for two and a half years. We share a room.”

Connor stood up and crossed the distance between their beds swiftly, pulling Tony into a fierce hug. Tony smiled. He’d made a stool and he’d made Connor happy. He was good at making things.

 

December 22, 2017

Connor did not like flying. He flew home for Christmas because his parents insisted, otherwise, he’d rather have just stayed in Samwell. It’s not that he was scared of flying; he just hated it. But it was something that he needed to get over if he was ever going to be in the NHL. He’d made it through take off without any trouble, not even a tremor. But the plane hit turbulence somewhere over the midwest and it was all he could do not to grip the armrests. 

He hadn’t even realized that he was holding his hand just above the armrest, fingers spread and tense, until Tony laced his own fingers through them and gave a little squeeze.

“Hey, Connor, how many people do you think this plane holds?”

Connor blinked a few times and looked over at Tony, but Tony was just looking at him with genuine curiosity. He slowly turned and looked from the front of the plane to the back, trying to estimate the number of rows. “I think around two hundred. Give or take.”

“Oh. Ok. Is there a set number of flight attendants to passengers? Or is it just a crew per plane?” Tony kept his gaze on Connor’s and Connor was sure now that, while he was interested in the answer, he was more interested in Connor thinking about and providing the answer.

“I’m pretty sure there’s a mandatory ratio of flight attendants to passengers, but I’ve never looked it up. Do you want to?”

“Maybe in a bit. I haven’t flown as much as you, so I’ve got a lot of questions. Have you ever flown in a helicopter?”

“No. I haven’t.” Connor paused and licked his lips. “If you want to, we could try going sometime. I bet they do sightseeing tours around Boston.” 

“Maybe, but I keep hearing about the duck boats and when I looked them up they don’t even look at ducks, so I’m confused about Boston tours.”

“Yeah. That’s weird, huh?” Connor realized that he was smiling at Tony and relaxed. The turbulence had eased up and his nerves were gone. 

He didn’t want to stop holding Tony’s hand though, so he didn’t, just gave it a squeeze while Tony talked about the amphibious vehicles that give the duck boat tours their name. 

How was he supposed to give this up at the end of a week?

 

December 23, 2017

Tony lay in the bed in the guest bedroom and stared into the darkness. He didn’t like it. He’d only slept the night before because travel exhausted him. But he’d spent the last four months sharing a room with Connor. How was he supposed to fall asleep without hearing Connor’s slow steady breaths? 

He sat up and frowned. Maybe he just needed to go to the bathroom. He’d do that, then he could get nice and comfortable in bed, and he’d just make himself go to sleep. He nodded; it was a good plan. 

He stood up and slowly opened the door, carefully turning the knob to stop it from making noise. He’d noticed that morning that sounds seemed to carry through this part of the house. Some weird acoustics thing or something, probably. He’d tried to look it up but had gotten distracted by stories of hearing ghosts. 

He froze when he heard a voice talking. Was Connor’s house haunted? If so, it was by ghosts that spoke Spanish. At least, he’s pretty sure that’s what he was hearing. He was picking out a lot of words similar to Italian, anyway.

When the second voice replied, he decided it was actually just the weird acoustics again. He was hearing Mr. and Mrs. Whisk. Which should have been reassuring, except that he was pretty sure they were talking about him and Connor. 

Once the voices stopped talking, he carefully crept down the hall to the door to Connor’s room and slipped in. 

“What? Tony?”

“Shh. Your parents are still awake I think.” Tony tried to remember the floorplan of the room, but then Connor turned on a flashlight on his phone and lit the way for him.

Connor was sitting up in his bed, and shifted over, giving Tony a spot to sit. So he did.

“What are you doing here, Tony?” He had his arms wrapped around his waist. He must have been cold, so Tony wrapped an arm around him too. 

“Sorry for waking you up. I was just going to the bathroom.”

“This isn’t the bathroom, Tones.”

Tony smiled. “I know. I heard your parents talking. You know how sound carries down this hall?”

He paused and waited for the affirmative murmur before continuing. “My Spanish isn’t great, but it’s kinda like Italian, and I think I understood them. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. But I thought it was ghosts at first.” Tony took a deep breath. “Your mom doesn’t think we’re actually together. Like, we don’t act like we love each other. I think that she thinks I’m using you? Maybe? And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I haven’t been doing good enough.”

Tony stopped when Connor uncrossed his arms and put a hand on Tony’s knee. “Hey, Tones. It’s ok. It’s only been a day. We’ll just, I mean, if you’re ok with it, we can increase the PDA a bit, yeah? But it would be normal for you to be reserved when first meeting your boyfriend’s parents. You didn’t do anything wrong. You’ve been perfect.”

Tony leaned into Connor’s shoulder a bit more. Increase the PDA. Make Mrs. Whisk believe he was in love with Connor. That should be easy. Who wouldn’t love Connor? “Thanks, Connor. I’m ok with more PDA if you are.”

“Yeah. That sounds good. But if they catch you in here, they’re going to be pissed. They’re pretty strict on bedrooms.”

“Yeah. Ok. I’ll get back to bed. It’s just hard to fall asleep. I’m used to…” He trailed off and stood up. He couldn’t tell Connor that he couldn’t sleep without him there. That would be weird.

“Yeah. It’s weird for me too.” 

Connor always knew what to say. 

 

December 24, 2017

Tony never realized how hard it was to make tamales until the whole family was in the kitchen working on them. He managed to snag a spot next to Connor. Watching and getting tips wasn’t really helping though. He messed up three in a row.

Connor looked at them and his lips thinned. Tony was about to excuse himself to find some other task that would be helpful, but Connor just stepped even closer and put his hands over Tony’s. 

“Feel how this side of the husk is rough? You want that side towards your fingers. Then just smooth on the masa like peanut butter on a sandwich.”

Tony nodded along. Now he could feel how much of the masa he should be using. 

“Add the pork in the middle here. Then fold one side, roll the other, and tuck the bottom. Then you’re done.” 

Tony looked up at Connor and caught him smiling softly. He wanted to kiss him. He was so thoughtful to help explain in a way that Tony would understand. Connor still had his hands on Tony’s, so Tony lifted the hand not holding the tamale and kissed the back of Connor’s hand when it came up with his own. 

Connor laughed softly. “Do you think you’ve got it? Or do you want me to show you again?”

Tony looked up and noticed Connor’s mom and aunts watching. “I think I can get it now. But I can ask if I have questions, right?”

“Always.”

One of Connor’s aunts cleared her throat. “Tonio, you are going with us to Midnight Mass? You won’t be uncomfortable will you?”

Connor cut in before Tony could respond. “Tia, it’s just Tony, not Tonio.”

Tony looked over at him and blinked. “It’s ok. I don’t mind Tonio. My Nonna calls me that.” He looked back at the aunt who had spoken. “Not that you’re as old as my Nonna. I haven’t been to a Midnight Mass performed by a priest other than the one that baptized me. He’s been with my diocese for decades now. It’ll be interesting to see one by another priest. The only other priest whose Mass I’ve attended is the one at Samwell. It’s a little different there. So I expect this will be too.”

Connor bumped into his shoulder but when Tony looked over, he was still looking down at his own tamales. But he was smiling, so Tony smiled too. 

 

December 25, 2017

Tony was right. The Mass was a bit different than he was used to. It was nice, though. Not a bad different, just different.

Of course, they didn’t get back to the house until very late. Connor let him use the bathroom first to get ready for bed. When he was done washing his face and brushing his teeth, Connor was waiting in the hall. He smiled at him, but then his eyes caught on something else. 

“Connor, why has your mom been watching us around corners all day? I thought I was imagining it, but she’s doing it again.”

Connor’s eyebrows pulled down for a moment before he sighed. “Can I kiss you?” He’d already slid a hand up to Tony’s jaw and was rubbing his skin softly. 

Tony blinked twice before finding the breath to reply. “Yeah. Ok.”

Connor’s lips were warm and soft. They were also very gentle. Sometimes Connor wasn’t gentle. Sometimes he was rough and abrasive, but he was almost always gentle with Tony. So it was a very nice kiss, and almost exactly as Tony had imagined it. Tony imagined more tongue, if he was honest. Connor didn’t open his mouth, so there was no tongue. But it was still a wonderful kiss. The sort of kiss he’d probably text home about. 

It only lasted a few seconds before Connor pulled back. “Thanks. I think that’ll satisfy her.”

Of course. Connor kissed him because his mom was there. Because they are fake dating. It was a fake kiss. Tony swallowed, unsure of what he was seeing in Connor’s eyes. For once, unwilling to ask. “I think I forgot something. I’ll be right back.” 

He couldn’t even think of a good excuse, but he didn’t run. He made it all the way to the front walk before his lips started trembling. Still, he did not run away from the house. 

He knew he was shaking. He wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or because he was crying. He’d ruined it. Connor was his best friend. Probably his only friend. Why did he have to kiss back like that? Why did he have to look at Connor like that after the kiss? Tango could wheel anyone else, but where would get find another friend like Connor? 

“Tony! Wait!” Connor’s voice halted his steps by the road. 

He stopped shaking quite so much when Connor wrapped a coat around his shoulders. “I know we aren’t in Massachusetts, but it gets cold out here at night. You can’t just go off in your pajamas.”

Tony didn’t trust himself to speak, so he just nodded down at the ground.

“Tony. Why did you leave the house in your pajamas after I kissed you?”

When the words came, they were barely more than a whisper. “Because I wanted to kiss you. I liked it.”

Connor was quiet but Tony didn’t look over, still focused on his feet on the cold ground.

“Tones, can I kiss you again? For real?”

Tony tilted his head. He’d probably misunderstood. “For real? Not part of the fake dating?”

“For real. Maybe part of real dating, if you want.”

Tony finally looked up and Connor looked shy, hesitant even. Connor almost never looked like that. 

He folded himself into Connor’s arms and pressed their lips together. This time, Connor sighed into it, and there was a bit of tongue, but not a lot. Somehow, it was better than the first. 

Tony pulled away when Connor shivered. “You don’t have a coat either.” 

Connor blinked. “Guess I forgot mine trying to get yours to you.” He smiled at Tony and started walking them back towards the house. 

Tony was happy. He’d made Connor happy again too. 

 

Christmas 2017

Connor looked up when Tony entered the den with the rest of the family. He could feel the smile stretching his cheeks, but he didn’t care.

His chin was grabbed in a steel grip and his Mamá pulled his face around, staring at him intently. “Ah. There it is. I think I see it peeking out before.”

“What, Mamá?”

“ _Tu corazon, Mijo._ ” she smiled at him and kissed his cheek. “Tony is a good boy. Nice Catholic boy. You can bring him back next year.”

Connor wrapped her in a hug. “ _Gracias, Mamá._ ” 

When they pulled apart, Tony was standing nearby, so Connor held out a hand and pulled him in to sit close to his side. 

If his heart was in his eyes, then so be it.

**Author's Note:**

> Also, they did a posada, but I didn't describe it each day. Just know that it happened. Tango was thrilled, he had a lot of questions. 
> 
> Whiskey's mom had to get over some heteronormativity and some homophobia, but she loves him and wants him to be happy. With Tango is about the happiest she's seen him in a long time. 
> 
> Tango's mom is "cool with the gays" in part because she knows her son is pan. 
> 
> Tango likes to throw subtle shade. Whiskey's tias shouldn't underestimate him. 
> 
> I think that covers it?
> 
> ETA: Oh! I forgot, this Whiskey has one white grandparent, his father's father, hence his name. The rest of his family is nonwhite Latinx.


End file.
